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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, April 6, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Plute leaves Pendleton better than he found it No one has had a bigger impact gas tax. And their response when on Pendleton in the last decade than it predictably failed is pretty rich. Al Plute. But Plute was the councilor who The city councilor and downtown put the most work into the effort, developer has renovated three of while most of the others sat back and the largest buildings in the region, allowed him to be fed to the village has been an outsized member of the wolves. Plute deserves credit for at planning department and city council least sticking his neck out there for a and, along with his wife Gail, good idea before its time. supported numerous Plute also local nonpro¿ts and deserves credit for Al Plute was a trying to institute charities. the And he did it full-time resident long-term budgetary all while being a planning that the of the city for full-time resident city must consider of the city for just just seven years. if it is to get its seven years. rapidly inÀating He leaves an During that infrastructure costs time, Plute has also control. outsized legacy. under rubbed plenty of But his quick folks the wrong desertion of the city way with his gruff demeanor and shows some of his faults, and some blunt talk. But that personality also of Pendleton’s, too. Plute was too allowed him to openly address impudent for his own good at times, Pendleton’s clear problems — but Pendleton was too rigid and making him an outlier on a council parochial to tolerate some rufÀed that for too long has been content to feathers and new ideas. kick those problems down the road Both are worse off with Plute’s or sweep them under a rug. departure. Out-of-town landlords Plute, and the rest of the council, are the number one problem in was wrong to hurriedly and downtown Pendleton, and there will haphazardly move forward with the soon be another one added to the list. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. OTHER VIEWS Improving college affordability The (Eugene) Register-Guard O regon’s decision to change the way it awards the Oregon Opportunity Grant to college students — shifting from a ¿rst-come, ¿rst-served basis to one that favors students with the greatest need — was the right one, in line with the intent of the grants. The program, originally called the Oregon Need Grant, was set up by the state Legislature in 1971 to help needy students attend community colleges and public and private four-year colleges within Oregon. It is Oregon’s largest state-funded, need-based grant program for college students. In the 2014-15 academic year, it awarded a total of $57.3 million to more than 36,000 students. But, under the ¿rst-come method of awarding grants, there was no guarantee that the money would indeed go to the neediest students. In fact, the neediest students were less likely to get help because they tended to apply later, after the money had run out, higher education of¿cials found. Eligibility for the Opportunity Grant is based on ¿nancial need, as determined by family income and household size. Students from families with up to $70,000 in adjusted gross income per year — meaning income after speci¿c deductions have been taken — are eligible to apply. Until now, the deck was stacked in favor of students from families with the ¿nancial savvy and ability to apply early, before the money ran out. One of the hurdles facing students applying for the Opportunity Grant, for example, is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, or FAFSA. That form requires, among other things, the most recent tax information from the student’s family. But employers have until Jan. 31 to provide W-2 forms to employees for the previous year. If students were to have a shot at getting any of the grant money under the ¿rst-come system, they needed to apply by early February. Families with ¿nancial know-how — or who employed an accountant — could estimate with some degree of accuracy the numbers needed for the FAFSA, even if they didn’t have a W-2 form, and ¿le an amended form later — allowing them to ¿le early and jump to the head of the grant line. Oregon is among the 10 states with the largest expenditures on need-based grants (and no merit requirements) for college students, according to a study done in 2014 for the Washington State Legislature. But Oregon received an F on its report card for college affordability a few years ago from the nonpro¿t National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, because there wasn’t enough help for needy students. “Financial aid to low-income students is low,” the center wrote. “For every dollar in (federal) Pell Grant aid to students, the state spends only 24 cents. Poor and working-class families must devote 44 percent of their income, even after aid, to pay for costs at two-year colleges.” Oregon’s de¿nition of needy when it comes to ¿nancial aid is a fairly generous one. The unadjusted median household income for the state was $51,075 in 2014, according to the most recent Census ¿gures. Families with incomes up to almost 140 percent of the state’s median income are eligible to apply for Oregon’s need-based grant program. Washington state’s comparable program, the State Need Grant, for example, is weighted toward students from the poorest families. Students from families where incomes are less than half of the median adjusted gross income for the state are eligible for the full grants offered by the program. Those with family incomes that are 50 to 70 percent of the state’s median family income are eligible for partial grants. An analysis of the impact of the State Need Grant, done in 2014 at the request of the Washington Legislature, con¿rmed that the model gave the state the most bang for the buck, in terms of both enrollment and graduation rates for students who might not otherwise earn college degrees. The Oregon Legislature’s decision to change the method used to award the Opportunity Grant may be a dif¿cult one to swallow for middle class families feeling squeezed between the wealthy, who don’t need ¿nancial help, and low-income families, who are now ¿rst in line for grants. But the Legislature also increased funding for the Opportunity Grant in the 2015-17 biennium by almost 24 percent, dedicating $140.9 million to the program. It estimates that it will allow another 16,000 people to receive grants as a result, which may soften the blow for some families relegated to a lower position on the priority list. And the University of Oregon has said that it wants to make sure that students currently receiving the grants aren’t left without aid as a result of the change — a key issue. In the end, the Legislature made the right move, ensuring that the grants will go to the neediest students, as was intended when the program was created. Under the first- come method of awarding grants, there was no guarantee the money would go to the neediest students. OTHER VIEWS How covenants make us W hen you think about it, we want, she suggests, is “separability there are four big forces amid situatedness.” We want to go off coursing through modern and create and explore and experiment societies. Global migration is with new ways of thinking and living. leading to demographic diversity. But we also want to be situated — Economic globalization is creating embedded in loving families and wider opportunity but also inequality. enveloping communities, thriving The Internet is giving people more within a healthy cultural infrastructure choices over what to buy and pay that provides us with values and goals. David attention to. A culture of autonomy Creating situatedness requires Brooks valorizes individual choice and a different way of thinking. When Comment self-determination. we go out and do a deal, we make a All of these forces have liberated contract. When we are situated within the individual, or at least well-educated something it is because we have made a individuals, but they have been bad for covenant. A contract protects interests, Pally national cohesion and the social fabric. notes, but a covenant protects relationships. Income inequality challenges economic A covenant exists between people who cohesion as the classes divide. Demographic understand they are part of one another. It diversity challenges involves a vow to serve the cultural cohesion as relationship that is sealed different ethnic groups rub by love: Where you go, I against one another. The will go. Where you stay, I emphasis on individual will stay. Your people shall choice challenges be my people. community cohesion and People in a contract settled social bonds. provide one another The weakening of the services, but people in social fabric has created a covenant delight in a range of problems. offering gifts. Out of love Alienated young men join of country, soldiers offer ISIS so they can have a sense of belonging. the gift of their service. Out of love of their Isolated teenagers shoot up schools. Many craft, teachers offer students the gift of their people grow up in fragmented, disorganized attention. neighborhoods. Political polarization grows The social fabric is thus rewoven in a because people often don’t interact with those romantic frame of mind. During another on the other side. Racial animosity stubbornly period of national fragmentation, Abraham persists. Lincoln aroused a refreshed love of country. Odder still, people are often plagued by a He played upon the mystic chords of memory sense of powerlessness, a loss of ef¿cacy. The and used the Declaration of Independence as a liberation of the individual was supposed to unifying scripture and guide. lead to mass empowerment. But it turns out These days the social fabric will be that people can effectively pursue their goals repaired by hundreds of millions of people only when they know who they are — when making local covenants — widening their they have ¿rm identities. circles of attachment across income, social and Strong identities can come only when racial divides. But it will probably also require people are embedded in a rich social fabric. leaders drawing upon U.S. history to revive They can come only when we have de¿ned patriotism. They’ll tell a story that includes social roles — father, plumber, Little League the old themes. That we’re a universal nation, coach. They can come only when we are seen the guarantor of stability and world order. But and admired by our neighbors and loved ones it will transcend the old narrative and offer an in a certain way. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put updated love of America. it, “Other men are lenses through which we In an interview with Bill Maher last month, read our own minds.” Sen. Cory Booker nicely de¿ned patriotism by You take away a rich social fabric and what contrasting it with mere tolerance. Tolerance, you are left with is people who are uncertain he said, means, “I’m going to stomach your about who they really are. It’s hard to live right to be different, but if you disappear daringly when your very foundation is Àuid off the face of the earth I’m no worse off.” and at risk. Patriotism, on the other hand, means “love of We’re not going to roll back the four big country, which necessitates love of each other, forces coursing through modern societies, that we have to be a nation that aspires for so the question is how to reweave the social love, which recognizes that you have worth fabric in the face of them. In a globalizing, and dignity and I need you. You are part of my diversifying world, how do we preserve whole, part of the promise of this country.” individual freedom while strengthening social That emotion is what it means to be solidarity? situated in a shared national life. In her new book “Commonwealth and Ŷ Covenant,” Marcia Pally of NYU and David Brooks became a New York Times Fordham offers a clarifying concept. What Op-Ed columnist in September 2003. Strong identities can come only when people are embedded in a rich social fabric. LETTERS POLICY The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
